Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Another Letter From a Reader

Dear KT,

There is something I'd like to discuss now that "Republican" asked the question.

Why is it that our Democratic Party has come from its noble history to arrive at mayhem? Our party is fractured and disgruntled like never before. My father says he doesn't even recognize the party, especially locally, but nationally too. Why? What are we becoming? You have many people on here and I would say that most are Democrats yet even they constantly bicker and fight and call each other names.

The Republicans who get on here don't seem to know what's going on because our party has dominated things locally since the beginning of time as I remember (I'm 68). I don't much care what the Republicans know or understand. Their leader seems like a pretty nice but dimwitted character. No surprise that they'd exhibit ignorance. The only smart one they have in office, seems to me, is Ed Clere, and we love to hate him precisely because he knows what he's doing and we don't like it.

But what about talking about just the Democrats? Let's focus on us. We're a big part of the problem here. Why? Because over the past, oh, thirty years or so, we've let some real crooks take over. We've let things become "thug politics" in Floyd County, especially in the city of New Albany.

Oh, they've got their front men (and women) who then line up to take the fall whenever things go awry, but why do we allow this? Our friend, "Republican" asked why the Reps and the Demos don't get along. Heck, we don't get along with ourselves! Somehow, we've allowed the Central Committee to consist of that group known as "the inner circle" and they control everything, from who's going to run for what, to how many paid boards we can appoint weak-kneed yes-men to, to who's going to take the fall for what, to how we're going to use those on the outside, specifically the so-called "progressives" in town, to get us what we want, to making sure backs are turned on the cheating we ALL KNOW is going on (for example, city council district 1).

We say things like, "Gosh, we hate Dan Coffey" and that we don't support him, yet we pretty much sit around and allow this to go on. We even seem to support it! I am one who pushed Jeff Gahan as the man to vote for this past election. I wish I hadn't. He's got the same thugs (yes, THUGS) in office as before. Just switched around. We wonder why we can't make changes happen, then cry and bitch about it not happening. And we complain bitterly about the people in power. YET WE DO NOTHING TO STOP THEM! So, let's stop talking about how stupid the Republicans are and talk about US, the Floyd County Democratic Party.

Although I can't vote in the city elections and live near the Harrison County line, I watch and read everything about the city where I grew up. I would like to see us progress toward some change for the better. Also, I would prefer my name not be used and appreciate your offer of space on your blog to get some things said.

2:52, how in the world would you know that? As far as I can tell everyone on here is 'anonymous'. You have no idea who is writing on KT. My guess is you would be pretty surprised to find out who all the anonymous writers are.

4:00, I'm (and you don't know who I am and I don't know who you are) saying you don't know who is writing every entry on KT so how could you possibly know if you've seen them at functions? Stick to facts.

This is a thoughtful post and I wish I had an answer for it. I've been involved with city politics for 50 years, though never as a candidate. I've helped out ever since I've been about 15. Looking back, I realize that we were a close-knit little group, so that's always been the case. But changes over the years have put a sinister element on the inside and the rest of us on the outside. Bit by bit, I've felt pushed out while others pushed their way in, and I'm not the only one who felt that way. So many of us have watched and there's really been nothing we could do about it.

The other thing is that I've read the DNC platform and the RNC platform and they're really not that far apart. That's what's made it easier to vote for Republicans. I used to simply think that Democrats are the ones for helping the poor people and the Republicans are the ones who are for big business and only big business.

I may have to disagree w/ you 9:53 am. There are a few Republican politicians I support on the National and local level but if you asked me to support one of the Presidential candidates I'd probably laugh. Unfortunate, but true. I'm tired of Tea Party Republicans.

I am going to stay away from "parties" (especially after local Dems elected England for Treasurer) and vote for the PERSON.

Regarding the FOS list of outstanding women, the first description provided is that of Susan Orth, who was the first female judge in Floyd County history and who also served as chief deputy prosecutor for 15 years. But then Judge Orth is not one of the ten women listed. What gives, Erika? Did you accidentally leave her description in from last year's article?